Jesuit Higher Education Events

Upcoming Events Across Jesuit Higher Education

Past Events Across Jesuit Higher Education

AJCU Climate Conference at Loyola University Chicago Chris Bacon, Iris Stewart-Frey, and their research students:Ben Grundy; Emma McCurry; Julia Jenak; Lilah A. Foster; Chloe Gentile-Montgomery; Daniel McCabe; Erica Martinez; Gabi Ballardo; John W. Rzepczynski; Paige Whittaker; Raeleigh Price and Skyler Kriese presented a total of 6 posters on food justice and the disparate impacts of agricultural activities in the Central Valley:        

The Exposure of Disadvantage Underserved Communities to Pesticides in the San Joaquin and Tuolumne Watersheds (Central Valley, CA)

Nitrate and Uranium Pollution affect Household Wells in Disadvantaged Underserved Communities in Stanislaus County (CA)

A student assessment of Food Security and Sovereignty as Universities Respond to COVID-19

Toward Real Food and Climate Neutrality on Campus: Assessing new tools for measuring institutional food system sustainability, transformation, and change

A Participatory Assessment of Diversification, Food Security, and use of Agroecology for Food System Change with Organized Smallholders in Nicaragua

The Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative at  Santa Clara University,in collaboration with Ecojesuit Global Network  and Jesuit Conference of South Asia organized an online dialogue on ‘Using agroecology to drive food system change : Responses and collaborations to address the present economic-ecological crisis‘. 150 plus participants from USA, Latin America, India, Philippines and other parts of the world participated in the webinar on Zoom platform. The event was also live broadcasted on Youtube to reach out to the wider audience. Dr. Pedro Walpole, Coordinator – Ecojesuit Global Network, Dr. Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya International and  Dr. Chris Bacon, from SCU enriched the audience with their sharing on the concerns and issues related to poisoning of Agricultural production due to extensive use of chemical fertilizers, Food and Health Security for All, Ecology and Sustainable Agriculture and Covid-19 in a global context. Video testimonies from the Community Food System & Urban Agricultural Model in the Bay Area, California, Fresh Approach, whose mission is to improve access to healthy food in California,  La Mesa Verde,SHCS, a network of Urban Gardeners and Valley Verde  creating access to healthy and culturally appropriate food for everyone; provided the audience with examples of various initiatives emerging in the context to meaningfully engage and respond as individuals, communities and organizations. The Q&A and Round Table Dialogue sessions addressed the concerns of the audience and the broader issue and mandate in the field of Agroecology.

Transcript of Dr. Shiva's presentation

11.17.2020 Agroecology and Food Systems Change CB Presentation

The testimonial videos: Valley Verde, Fresh Approach, and La Mesa Verde

Post event article: Industrial Agriculture is Creating Poison, Not Food: Say Agroecologists

Chris Bacon presented on Community-based action research to build back a fairer food system as a breakout session during the Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice virtual conference, entitled ”Prophetic Resilience: Breaking Down. Building Up." This is the largest annual Catholic social justice conference in the U.S.  After the talk, participants shared ideas about how to address rural hunger and food justice, including responses to food insecurity induced by Covid-19.

Chad Raphael organized a session entitled “Another Just Transition: Community-Engaged Research and Learning for Environmental Justice” at the annual conference of the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Chad presented on the value of community-driven research for producing actionable knowledge about environmental justice at Jesuit and other universities, drawing on a research guide he wrote on this subject. Co-presenters discussed research collaborations that have shaped sustainability policies and practices in the conference’s host city of Milwaukee. Kate Nelson (Chief Sustainability Officer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and Willie Karidis (Rails to Trails Conservancy) presented their study of how to make access to bike trails more accessible and equitable  in neighborhoods of color. Chelsea Wait (Ph.D. candidate and Adjunct Professor, School of Architecture and Urban Planning) presented on the Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Field School, a university-community partnership that engages community members and students in storytelling, ecological conservation, heritage preservation, and civic engagement.

The Initiative’s Chris Bacon, Iris Stewart-Frey, and Chad Raphael helped organize and presented to the Community-Based Research (CBR) in Environmental Justice (EJ) at Jesuit Universities workshop. Leaders in Jesuit education for sustainability attended, including Nancy Tuchman (Loyola Chicago’s Dean of Sustainability, Fr. Pedro Walpole (Ecojesuit), and  Fr. Michael Garanzini, Secretary for Higher Education for the Society of Jesus, who said  that CBR for environmental justice and sustainability is a key strategy for the future of Jesuit higher education. Raphael led a workshop on forming community-university research partnerships.  Bacon and Stewart-Frey co-presented with Raul Diaz (CII-ASDENIC) and Misael Rivas (PRODECOOP), who traveled from Nicaragua to co-present lessons learned from a decade of participatory action research for food and water security in the context of climate change and other hazards. Bill Sundstrom (Economics) and the Initiative’s Ed Maurer (Sustainable Engineering) also contributed analysis to this presentation. The SCU research team was one of three that the conference organizers funded to travel to the workshop.See this Jesuit reflection on the event in the International Association of Jesuit Universities' newsletter.  

Photo: Selected Participants at the Community-Based Research in Environmental Justice Workshop in Chicago